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If you read the Wilson weekly newsletter, you have probably noticed messages about the wealth club. Members of the club discuss and learn about business, finance, consumerism, and everything there is to know about succeeding economically. Wealth club sponsor Anthony Evans aims to prepare students for the financial decisions they will have the make in the not-so-distant future. Evans preaches the idea of the “wealth trifecta”—a triangle in which one is always earning money, keeping money, and growing money.

Throughout the club meetings, Evans reflects on financial decisions he has made in the course of his life. He leads the group through lessons on wealth with engaging activities like playing Monopoly and a virtual stock-market game. The stock-market simulation serves as a method of learning skills and strategies that will be helpful in adulthood without the real-life consequences of money loss and hardship. “We buy and trade assets, which are stocks…It emulates the prices of stocks in the real world, but everyone gets $10,000,” said Evans, who encourages students, parents and faculty to participate. “[Students] can get the experience of being in the market—because only 50 percent of the people in America are actually in the stock market. So it gives an opportunity for young people to start thinking about conversations around buying assets.”

The wealth club has members ranging from ninth to 12th grade. One freshman who recently joined the club said he joined because he, “wanted to find out how to use [his] money wisely.” Mr. Evans acknowledges that, although this is only the second year of the club, he feels he has already graduated members with “wealth mindsets”—mindsets that Evans describes as focusing on assets rather than liabilities—who are ready to succeed economically on their own.

In particular, Evans hopes to help kids who do not plan on attending college through instilling in them valuable practices and ideas. He said when he realized kids were deciding not to go to college and needed to find ways to earn money immediately, he knew it was important to for these topics to be discussed. “Everybody’s focused on GPA and getting into these great colleges. No one’s focusing on learning how to be financially astute.”